During a pre-taped interview on CSPAN released on Wednesday, Senator Bernie Sanders told reporters that he does not believe he will be the Democratic nominee. Multiple media outlets have confirmed the quote.
Sanders was responding to a question about what he feels his role will be in the July convention in Philadelphia when the Senator made his most resolute statement on his campaign yet.
“It doesn’t appear that I’m going to be the nominee, so I’m not going to determine the scope of the convention.”
Though Sanders has continued to fight on with his campaign long after it was no longer viable, he has so far held back from saying such definitive statements.
Until today, the most negative thing he had said about his campaign was that he was “pretty good at arithmetic,” implying that he could see the writing on the wall.
This will no doubt be a blow to many Sanders supporters who still hope that there is some way he can be the Democratic nominee. To those, Sanders seems to be sending a gentle message: we tried, we failed, but we can continue on in other ways.
Watch:
